Sentinels
by IronChainDragon
Summary: New Game is fun, right? Not when you aren't expecting such a thing. The worst part is, despite knowing what's to come, Krystal can't seem to change it. Thankfully, she has her friends along for the ride. Still, can she make a difference once it really matters?
1. We Fail at Alchemy

Daichi: So... my computer, which had the original of this, died.

Verity: You're acting rather... calm about it. Are you sure you remember it all? No pressure.

Krystal: Yeah, they love making my life miserable. Anyway, they only own me, Lou, Geo, and Tony.

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So many recipes unknown to mortalkind. And one human was attempting to alchemize them all. Sure, she had a Celestrian and a fairy to help, but she should have known that it would all go wrong.

"One more to go... one more to go..." Krystal, mortal guardian of the entire Protectorate- big job, yes, but she loved it- chanted as she looked at Krak Pot. The pot was less than enthusiastic about the energetic minstrel having it help out for five days straight, but the growing pile of highly complex weapons and armor showed that she at least knew a little about what she was doing. The sad thing was that, even if it went well, few if any of them would ever be used. Especially the fans. One of Krystal's first creations had clicked with her, and since then, she refused to use anything but her beloved White Tiger Fan.

Geo, best, and only, paladin in Stornway, grinned. "This'll be great!" Next to them, his soul, Bombax, laughed.

"We'll be the best, boss!"

Louisa, kleptomaniac and former crossdresser, groaned. "Shut up, Bombax. And Geo, remember the last time you got cocky?"

"I have no clue what you mean by that."

Stella, Krystal's fairy companion and world's most reckless driver, replied. "You provoked a flapping Boss Troll!"

"One time!"

Tony, self proclaimed world's most powerful mage (Admittedly, he had no challengers.) sighed. "You know they'll never let you live it down, right?"

"I can try!"

Pavo, last remaining Celestrian and Krystal's impromptu assistant, looked to be resisting the urge to laugh. Of those who could see her, meaning Stella and the four who thought eating fyggs was a wonderful idea, only Krystal could really tell that. She supposed it was a holdover from training under Pavo's brother, Aquila. Finding out about the relationship between the two had been a surprise, although she could definitely see the resemblance. Despite knowing Pavo from almost the beginning, she was only told after... she shook her head. No time for bitter memories.

"Look, kid, this is a dangerous thing. I can't really stop you, but I should warn you. The Reset Fan has the power to heal you and negate your foes healing abilities, but..."

Louisa sighed. "There's always a but."

"...If something goes wrong, it casts a one-way time travel spell to an unknown time in the past with only your natural abilities and perhaps a few things kept close to your heart carried over. For everyone in the general vicinity."

Krystal couldn't help but be curious. "What about fyggs?"

"I suppose that they would take effect as soon as such a thing became viable."

"So... I'd be a Celestrian up until fyggbloom?"

Geo groaned. "And she calls me reckless."

"Boss Troll."

"One time!"

Krystal glared. "It was a hypothetical question! It's good to be safe, is all. Tony, Stella, pass the ingredients."

Bombax sighed. "What about me?"

"Shut up, Bombax. Besides, I don't really trust you with this delicate stuff."

It had gone well, at first. And then the cat had gotten in.

"No, kitty, away from the pot!" Geo swung his hammer... and smashed Krak Pot.

Stella said it best. "Well, flap-"

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Louisa looked at herself in the mirror. Boy's clothing. So, at least before she met... "Well played, Krys, well played." She knew her best friend had an insatiable urge for adventure, and five years would be perfect for that. Seventy-five percent chance of failure. Perhaps she hadn't been concerned with whether or not it was a success. A good weapon or a new adventure? Yep, sounded like Krystal.

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Geo glared at Bombax. "Why did you have to come along? I hadn't even started paladin training yet!"

"I'm bound to you, boss. You heard Miss Krystal when we met. She was rather amused by it."

"...Shut up, Bombax."

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Tony watched his spell hit the murderer. He hadn't prevented his parent's deaths, but he did get revenge... even if it took five years and some botched alchemy to do it. "Louisa would tell me this was wrong, but she's a kleptomaniac. She has no say in my morals. Krys would also disapprove, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her." Still, he should probably hide the body. Just to be sure.

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To say that Aquila was in shock... was an understatement. He had only taken his eyes off of his apprentice for ten minutes, and something about her had changed. It wasn't that hard to see, either. He'd had three days to notice it.

It had started with the fan. Krystal had always been clumsy with a sword at best, so trying a new weapon was nothing surprising. However, while the daggers had slipped from her hand, the arrows from the bows always fell short, and she had tied herself up with her own whip, the way she moved with the fan was graceful, with fluid motions that, if he hadn't known better, he'd swear were the signs of someone who'd practiced for years.

It was other things, two. The way she carried herself more confidently. Her newfound awkwardness with her wings. A more casual manner of speech and relaxed set of her face. When he could see it. That was another thing about Krystal that had changed.

Unless he ordered her to, she couldn't seem to bring herself to look him in the eyes.

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When Krystal saw the traveling party approaching the gate, she suppressed a groan. There were so many ways that this could go wrong. A dark skinned girl in boy's clothing was nothing new, but the two boys following her with purple hair meant only one thing.

"What are they doing here?" She muttered to herself, low enough so Aquila wouldn't hear. "Don't they realize I have a job?" Actually, this could be beneficial. She just needed a way to reveal herself to them... Bombax. Of course. Still, she wondered how anyone could react to what she was planning.

Not five hours later, Angel Falls was swimming- almost literally- with Benevolessense. A bit much, but she had to be certain.

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Pavo was less than pleased. Especially since she'd have to be the one to work with the Starflight Express to put it in motion. She knew the threads of destiny well- difficult to alter, but can create a real mess. On the other hand, there was a chance, albeit a small one, that they could get a real change out of it. She arranged herself in a comfortable position on the counter. This could take a while.

At least, except for the really early fyggbloom. She was glad Patty had apparently left following the other adventurers out of town. She'd get there in time.

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As the Observatory shook, Krystal stood up shakily. It was easier for her, for some reason. She could still feel the pull, however, and knew she was due to return to her mortal existence as Krystal of Stornway. Still...

"Krystal! Take my hand!" It would be so easy. Just reach out and grab. Stay and explain her sudden change. There were so many things that she wanted to say, but couldn't yet find the words to. Perhaps staying would give her time to think on those words. She was doubtful, however.

How do you tell someone that you saw them die? She couldn't.

"I'm sorry," She whispered, so only they could hear. "But I'm needed elsewhere, at the moment." Her wings flapped once, twice, three times... and no more. Gently smiling, she allowed herself to fall.

Her friends were waiting for her.

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Daichi: I've only really played this game halfway, but I like it. And Krystal being human early is something that will break the game's script. Quite badly. The wonders of a New Game+. Or, well, close enough.


	2. The Box

Vee-Vee: Will she be okay?

Verity: She lost all of her computer data. For everything. I'm surprised she isn't freaking out yet... mostly.

BlackGatomon: The girl crying in the corner only owns Krystal, Louisa, Geo, and Tony.

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"Good morning, Krys!" Louisa shouted into her sleeping friend's ear. "Krys? Hey, Krys, wake up. Tony says he found something cool."

Krystal turned over. "Five more minutes, Lou."

"Seriously, I don't think we've ever seen it before. By the way, the Hexagon is still closed, and I think I saw Patty heading in that direction before we came here."

"Don't care. Need sleep..."

"You've been in bed since yesterday. Don't you have a job?" A green eyed glare. "Well, you do."

Krystal groaned and sat up. "Do you have any idea what is going on?"

"You heard Pavo, close range time travel spell."

"Well, besides needing to get her aboard the Starflight somehow, do you realize just what we have to do again? I like adventure, but it'll get tedious doing the same thing over and over." No matter what they thought, she had not planned this!

"Do we have to do the exact same thing? Honestly, we know where everything is, so we can do it faster." Krystal grinned. She liked where this was going.

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"Hi, Edwinn! Bye, Edwinn!" Running out of town that night, four children, none of which looked over the age of fourteen, headed for the pass. Krystal took the lead with ease, while the others trailed not very far behind. The sort of felt sorry for leaving the ghost confused, but they didn't see a big deal with it. They may have let being five years younger get to them a little big. Even Krystal, who, at this point, had seen a full century, was letting it get to her.

Upon reaching the pass, they ran right up to the Starflight. "Stella! Hey, Stella! We know you're there!" The door slid open for half a second. That was all the time they needed to crowd the train.

Stella was not amused. "Seriously, what are you doing?"

Tony leaned back. "Well, I found this cool box. I'm not quite sure what's in it, though... I wanted to open it here, since it's the first time we can all hang around together." The box in question was made of some kind of metal with a silver sheen. It looked like someone had twisted a Metal Slime into cube form.

"...Tony, where did you get that box?" Louisa reached for it, but withdrew her hand, as though shocked. "I've never seen anything like this before, and I know a lot about this stuff."

"You mean you steal a lot of this stuff."

"What's the difference?"

Krystal sighed. "Well, amongst other things, just how much respect others give you. And that gang in Dourbridge doesn't count." Louisa closed her mouth. It was amazing, just how predictable that they could be at times. But that wasn't bad. It was the little things in life.

When the box opened, the first thing they noticed was that there were four items in it. Geo laughed. "One for each of us!"

"But boss, what about me and Stella?"

"I was counting the humans."

"Well, boss, in that case, Miss Krystal wasn't born human, so-"

"Shut up, Bombax." Louisa looked in the box. "Oh! Shiny! Mine!"

"Um, Lou? That's a knife."

"Did you expect her to go for anything else?"

"No, just... why was it being shiny her first observation?"

"...I have no clue. I just hope she doesn't go too crazy with it." The thought of the last time Louisa got a new knife filled them with dread.

Tony reached in and grabbed his choice. "It's a scarf! Isn't it cool?" The scarf was green and fluffy.

"Why do you need a scarf? We'll be in Gleeba during the winter, and you never complain about the cold, anyway."

"It's fluffy?" Nobody could come up with a good counter for that. Tony did like fluffy things, as evidenced by the many times they had to stop him from petting the sanguinis. At least one time had ended with them running from Manguinis.

Geo and Krystal looked at each other. Krystal shrugged. "You go first. I don't really need anything. I've got all I could ever want already." Well, it wasn't entirely true. But what she wanted, she didn't believe she could ever get, although she'd love it if it were. It didn't really matter, though. Her life might not be perfect, but it was good enough.

"All right, then." He pulled out a small hammer. "This is going to be great." The hammer had spikes on it. One of these days, somebody was going to get stabbed by them.

Krystal peered into the box. The last object looked like a leather pouch on a silver string, only it wouldn't open. She tugged at it, but it wouldn't move. She eventually gave up and just strung it around her neck. It was better than the rings that she was constantly rotating out.

"Okay, so, since Patty's probably in the Hexagon, who wants to see how many times we can hit a goon before it falls over?" The decision was unanimous.

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"Hi, Edwinn! Bye, Edwinn!" It was just too easy. As the stone slab slid away, the group descended, each wondering exactly what would happen. What happened was getting ambushed by Drackies. Tony stepped forward and lifted his staff.

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The group was trying to fight without the benefit of vision or hearing. It wasn't working. Krystal flung her arm forward with her fan, and honestly didn't expect to hit anything. She mumbled threats of violence to Tony that were never heard, and that she'd never follow through on anyway. She'd never be able to bring herself to.

The ground rumbled as something charged by. Krystal stopped for a second, her friends coming up behind her. Her senses were starting to return to her, but she had no clue what was going on anymore.

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When their senses came back, there was only one thing to say.

"Did we just kill the Hexagoon without even trying?"

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Daichi: Early game bosses can be kind of... anti-climactic. It gets better.


End file.
